Students, Missouri ACLU sue Independence school district for banning library book

The American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri is suing the Independence school district over its book removal policy, following a school board vote banning a book from elementary school libraries because it features a nonbinary character.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit Tuesday afternoon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, on behalf of four Independence parents’ children. The suit aims to end the school district’s policy of automatically removing library materials after it receives a challenge, before any review has taken place.

Under the policy, if someone challenges a book, the district will immediately remove it from library shelves until a committee evaluates it and the school board casts a final vote on whether to keep it.

The ACLU argues that the policy violates the First Amendment by “preventing students who might wish to access the books from doing so while stigmatizing the ideas and viewpoints expressed by the challenged materials.”

“Equity in our education system is further eroded when the government sets policies that require challenged books to automatically be pulled from shelves without notice or an opportunity to appeal the final decision, denying students their First Amendment and Due Process rights,” said Gillian Wilcox, the ACLU’s deputy director for litigation, in a statement.

An Independence schools spokeswoman told The Star Tuesday evening that the district was reviewing the lawsuit.

Removal of book with nonbinary character

In April, a parent challenged the children’s book “Cats vs. Robots #1: This Is War” because it features a nonbinary character. The book, with themes about STEM, is marketed toward children ages 8 through 12. Only three pages of the 307-page book include a discussion about the character being nonbinary, the ACLU’s suit says.

Per district policy, the book was immediately removed from all library shelves. And the district formed a nine-member committee to study it.

The school board then voted 6-1 to remove the book from elementary libraries. In a letter sent to families, district officials said that the subject of gender identity may be “new to young readers,” and the decision was made to give parents a say over what their children read.

The decision was met with harsh criticism from parents, students and LGBTQ advocates, who packed school board meetings to urge a reversal. They argued that such book bans violate students’ rights, and that all students should be able to see themselves reflected in the books available at schools.

“Across the state, from school boards to lawmakers and other officials, we have seen a coordinated effort by the government to censor books in both school and public libraries, especially those authored by and featuring the perspectives of people and communities of color, LGBTQ+, and other marginalized groups,” Wilcox said.

ACLU lawsuit

In its lawsuit, the ACLU argues that the Independence district’s policy requiring books to be automatically removed from shelves when they are challenged, “allows for books to be removed on any basis, including because of viewpoints expressed in the material.”

Under the policy, the ACLU says, “a parent, guardian, or student who objects to a book because it contains a discussion about ‘sex,’ a person’s ‘sexuality,’ or their ‘race’ would trigger that book’s automatic removal from all library shelves pending review and a Board vote.”

That is despite district policy stating that books shall not be removed “on the basis of partisan or doctrinal approval or disapproval.”

The school board’s vote is final, and policy also does not provide an appeal process, which the ACLU argues “violates the First Amendment and Due Process rights of students because it restricts their access to ideas and information for an improper purpose and without any prior notice.

“Automatic removal of challenged materials threatens the ability of the Plaintiffs to learn and engage with a diversity of ideas and information, including seeing their own experiences reflected in the books and developing greater understanding of the experiences of others,” the suit says.

Book bans across the country

The issue comes amid a nationwide push by some parents and politicians to ban from schools certain books that deal with gender and sexual identity, as well as racial themes. Across the Kansas City metro and country, parents have challenged books they deemed inappropriate and too graphic for students.

Several Kansas City area districts have pulled dozens of books off of library shelves this school year in response to a new law, which bans sexually explicit material from schools. Librarians or other school employees who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor, risking up to a year in jail or a $2,000 fine.

In Independence, district administrators instructed staff to remove a dozen graphic novels from library shelves that they determined had sexually explicit content. They included Kurt Vonnegut’s American classic “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Watchmen” by Alan Moore, “Blankets” by Craig Thompson and “Home After Dark” by David Small, according to a presentation to staff previously obtained by The Star.

Now Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft could take that a step further — and require all state-funded public libraries to “protect minors” from materials that are not age appropriate. He has proposed a rule stating that public libraries would be prohibited from using state funds to purchase materials that appeal to the “prurient interest of a minor.” They would risk losing funding by violating the rule.

The ACLU’s lawsuit says that during the 2021-22 school year, 138 school districts in 32 states removed more than 2,500 books. And 41% of all books banned nationwide that school year were about LGBTQ characters.

Book titles that contained protagonists or important characters or color accounted for 40% of all book removals. And 21% of the banned books directly addressed issues of race and racism, according to the suit.